Local cyclist starts new riding route for safety

JONESBORO, AR (KAIT) - A local cyclist mapped out a new bike route in hopes to keep riders safe.

Dustin Lampkin is a cyclist in Jonesboro and he sees the need for more safety for riders like him.

Lampkin decided to start a new route that will loop around Jonesboro.

The group will start riding at 5:30 on Monday mornings because there is less traffic at that time.

"After the death of the cyclist earlier this summer, we really tried to push to get something going in the town to make it a little bit safer," Lampkin said. "Early in the mornings it is safe, there isn't a lot of traffic and you don't have to worry about it as much but if we had bike lanes we would have a lot more commuters."

Lampkin said he picked Monday because, as of now, there is not a group riding that day.

"Monday mornings we will ride mostly between 13-14 miles per hour is what we will base it off of," Lampkin said.

The new route will start at St. Bernards Health and Wellness and then loop around the city.

The cyclist will ride down Washington Avenue all the way to the Parker Road extension. Then they will take the extension towards the Nettleton area and back up to the Greenway Trail where riders will eventually end back up at St. Bernards Health and Wellness.

Lampkin said he hopes the trail will eventually lead to permanent bike lanes in the city so they don't always have to ride early to stay safe.

"That is an environment we don't have here and a lot of other cities our size have those things and we really want to try and push that and get something going, at least the initial loop," Lampkin said.

He also said this loop could eventually extend and offer more route options throughout the city.

"If we could get that loop going it would tie in and allow us to maybe out lanes through the middle of town and go up to ASU," he said. "There are also a lot of people on Johnson that I drive by every day that are riding their bikes, that is all the transportation they have. So if we could tie into North Johnson or North Main Street and then maybe go south to Culberhouse and Craighead Forest, those are just little things this loop would initiate."

Lampkin said he knows plenty of people who do not like cycling or even cyclists.

"You know, we get a lot of hand signals from drivers and motorist, we get things thrown at us and even smog thrown out from diesel trucks," Lampkin said.

However, he said he hopes drivers and cyclists can share the road and keep everyone safe.

"We just want them to know we are people too, we aren't trying to do anything to get on your nerves," Lampkin said. "We just want to be out here and exercise and not sit on the couch. We just want to be healthy."

Lampkin said bike lanes would help not only the cyclists but also drivers stay safe.

He also said anyone looking to join a cycling group can find several different ones on Facebook or by following #iamacylist.